Coral and Matthew Denakins, along with their 15-person wedding party, were awakened at 2:30 am to smoke.
A bride and groom – along with their entire wedding party – fled a burning house on the morning of their wedding, but thanks to some quick thinking, they were still able to get married just hours later.
“I grabbed my truck keys, my wallet and my wedding ring,” Matthew Denakins, who is stationed at Fort Benning in Georgia, told InsideEdition.com. "I grabbed the few things I could and ran outside.”
Matthew and his bride, Coral, explained they had brought their 15 relatives to her parents’ house North Potomac, Md., last Saturday ahead of their wedding to be held the following day.
Around 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning, the home was engulfed in flames.
“The room was filled with smoke, there was lots of commotion,” Matthew remembered.
Coral added, “My mom was running around screaming for everyone to get out. … Nobody really had any shoes or anything on.”
Luckily, everyone escaped the blaze unharmed.
“Firefighters had said if my parents had not caught it when they did, then the roof would have collapsed with us in it,” Coral said. “We got lucky, we are extremely lucky.”
They went on with the wedding, having managed to save the rings and Coral’s wedding dress. While her shoes were casualties of the blaze, the couple was able to find a different pair for her to wear, and Matthew’s military uniform only incurred minor damage from the fire.
“It was about eight hours, not even, post-fire that everyone was dressed up,” Matthew said.
“It was a very emotional day,” Coral added.
The blaze, which firefighters believe started in the garage, ended up causing more than $500,000 worth of damage, the couple estimated, burning through cars, wedding gifts, family keepsakes and all of the Denakinses' property, which they kept stored at the home.
“Every time I went in, I just cry and cry because it looks awful,” Coral said.
But she's choosing to look on the bright side.
"We are very grateful that everyone made it out OK," she said.
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